


Lost Souls

by dearwildflower



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Big brother Juyeon, Fluff, Halloween, Kid Sunwoo, M/M, Strangers to Potential Boyfriends, kid eric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearwildflower/pseuds/dearwildflower
Summary: A normal person probably would have been bothered to spend Halloween night trick or treating with their little brother and his best friend, but Juyeon is acoololder brother and cool older brothers are happy to do it. (Especially when they meet a beautiful boy along the way.)
Relationships: Choi Chanhee | New/Lee Juyeon
Comments: 21
Kudos: 168





	Lost Souls

**Author's Note:**

> A day late but please accept this cute junew:)

It’s only a quarter to six but the palm treed streets of LA are already riddled with costumed children. Halloween in America is quite obviously a much bigger deal than in Seoul, Juyeon observes.

“I have more candy than you!”

“No you don’t! I do!”

Eric and Sunwoo come bickering down the driveway of yet another decadent house with their matching pumpkin baskets bouncing at their sides. Juyeon can just hear their bite sized candy bars sloshing around inside. 

A normal person probably would have been bothered to spend Halloween night trick or treating with their little brother and his best friend, but Juyeon is a _cool_ older brother and cool older brothers are happy to do it. (Especially when they don’t have plans of their own anyway.) Ever since Juyeon and his dad made the big move to Los Angeles to be with Eric and his mom, Eric has stuck to his new older brother like glue and Juyeon has taken pride in having someone look up to him in such a way. Besides, the six year old is just that cute and Juyeon is a major softie.

“Hyung, hyung! They had sour gummy worms!” Eric yells excitedly when he meets Juyeon at the sidewalk with Sunwoo in tow. 

“Oh yeah? That’s awesome.” Juyeon grins, crouching down to tie the six year old’s shoe. He gets accidentally jabbed in the head with Eric’s magic wand twice before the shoelace is double knotted. 

“Be careful with your wand, Mr. Magic. You almost poked my eye out.” 

Eric giggles, peering up at Juyeon which never ceases to make him feel like a giant. “But you’re wearing a mask! That protects your face!”

Ah, his mask. Because Eric wasn’t going to let Juyeon accompany them without his own costume. Half of the adults in the streets are dressed in full costume, while the other half are in casual jeans and light sweaters. Juyeon falls somewhere in between, having let Eric choose the theme of his costume while Juyeon had final say on the actual clothing. So there he was in a black Vetements muscle tee and his tightest black faux leather pants with a black sparkly bunny mask that covered from his eyes up. Eric in all his youthful enthusiasm had returned from first grade one day and announced that Juyeon was going to be _a stealer_ for Halloween. 

_“You mean a thief?”_ Juyeon had asked with a chuckle. “ _Or a robber?”_

_“No no, a stealer! Because you’re so handsome, hyung! You’re gonna steal all the ladies’ hearts!”_

Juyeon hadn’t the heart to tell Eric he wasn’t interested in ladies in the first place so he ruffled the little boy’s hair and simply acquiesced. 

“Juyeon hyung, can we cross the street?” Sunwoo requests, doe eyes prettily rounded. Juyeon adjusts the lopsided chestnut beret atop his little head and taps the body of his acorn costume. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” He replies and reaches a hand out for Eric who eagerly accepts with a wide show of teeth. Eric grabs Sunwoo’s free hand, looks both ways before crossing, and pulls the three of them across the street. 

Juyeon’s new neighborhood is just as nice as the ones he’s seen in movies. Big decorated houses with lots of windows, driveways with basketball hoops. Based on the amount of unsupervised kids and teenagers, Juyeon figures it’s the type of neighborhood where everyone looks out for each other. Most of the community seemed to already know Eric and were happy to see him and Sunwoo in their adorable costumes. 

Only a few people asked who Juyeon was and Eric was quick to rattle off in fluent English who he was which Juyeon only picked out the words _brother_ , _cool_ and _Korea_ . He shook their hands and greeted them with his most polite and enunciated _nice to meet you,_ happy that he didn’t have a thick accent. Eventually he stopped walking up to the door and waited at the sidewalk letting the boys tiptoe for the doorbell. 

It’s only when they reach a house with a giant inflatable spider on the front lawn that Juyeon’s assistance is required again. 

“Hyung, it’s scary.” Sunwoo whines, refusing to step foot on the grassy path. Likewise, Eric tugs on his magician’s cape and turns to Juyeon with big pleading eyes. 

Juyeon eyes the polyester creature on the grass knowing full well that with a quick stab to the leg the monster can be easily defeated but he adjusts to a six year old mindset instead and smiles warmly at the boys. “Want me to come with you?”

With both Eric and Sunwoo clasped to his legs fearfully, Juyeon waddles towards the steps of the porch. He peels them from his thighs and follows them up, leaning against the banister across from the collection of pumpkins sat neatly on a haystack by the door. 

When the door opens, Juyeon is mid-yawn, stretching his arm behind his head, unintentionally flexing. He registers Eric’s high pitched _trick or treat_ but then his mind is reduced to nothing by the prettiest face he’s ever had the pleasure of seeing. He can’t pinpoint what exactly has him transfixed though. The two toned duality of the boy’s hair, the Chanel turtleneck of his all black ensemble, the pretty curve of his eyes, the black cat ears resting atop his head. It takes all of Juyeon’s concentration not to throw up thousands of unrequited little red hearts at the feet of the boy forking over handfuls of mini candy bars to his little brother. 

_“Are you an acorn?”_ Chanel boy asks Sunwoo, and damn, he’s speaking English. 

Sunwoo sighs while digging through his pumpkin basket. He’d definitely been asked that a hundred times that evening. Juyeon’s limited English skills picked up on that much. _“Yes. I was s’posed to be Iron Man but mommy said this was cuter.”_

“ _And I’m a magic man!_ ” Eric announces proudly, waving his wand. 

Chanel boy smiles and Juyeon feels he needs to shield himself from such radiance. “ _A magician? Can you do a magic trick for me?”_

It takes all of a second for Eric to whip out his no.2 pencil from his basket and start flopping his wrist with dedicated precision, enough to make the pencil look like it’s made of rubber. 

_“Have you ever seen a rubber pencil before? I bet you haven’t!”_ Eric beams up at Juyeon who has no idea what he just said but still reciprocates his enthusiasm with a slightly clueless thumbs up. (He’d taught him the trick for thirty minutes after all.)

_“And what are you supposed to be?”_

Suddenly the cute catboy’s inquiring gaze lands on Juyeon but his question flies right over Juyeon’s head. It’s at that moment that Juyeon regrets heavily relying on his six year old brother’s English proficiency instead of properly studying the language himself. He wants to ask Eric what he was just asked but it’s too early to break his cool guy aesthetic. He contemplates struggling through some known English vocabulary but then he’s struck with curiosity, wondering if the boy, who was obviously Asian, could possibly be Korean. 

“Do you perhaps speak Korean?” Juyeon attempts meekly.

There’s a hint of surprise in the boy’s eyes that fades into intrigue, the edges of his rose tinted lips quirking up. “I do. Do you not speak English?”

“Just the bare minimum,” Juyeon replies, happy to be conversing in his mother tongue where he can form proper sentences. “I’m still learning. I’m new to town.” He adds as if he hasn’t called LA home for the past two months. 

The handsome male nods, leaning against the doorframe. Juyeon eyes his long legs _._ “These two seem to speak it well enough. You should have them teach you. You did spend all night trick or treating with them after all.”

Juyeon glances at the forgotten pipsqueaks next to him and scratches his arm, leveling the boy with his friendliest grin. “You have a point, but I’m thinking I’d rather learn from someone my own age.” He says pointedly. “Do you know anyone who’d be interested?” 

The blonde purses his lips and hums in thought. “I might know of someone.” He replies coolly. “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” 

Juyeon bites back a contented grin, but unfortunately all plans of wooing the neighbor boy come to a screeching halt when Sunwoo in a dramatically exasperated voice begs to be freed of boring adult conversation. Eric tugs on Juyeon’s hand and it’s their sign to hit the road again. Juyeon has enough time to take in Chanel boy’s sparkly eyes one last time before he’s dragged down the stairs and back into the endless sea of children and candy.

  
**\---**   
  


“Didn’t we come here already, hyung?”

“No, it just looks like-”

Sunwoo stops dead on the sidewalk and shrieks, pointing a tiny finger at the familiar inflatable spider on the lawn. He doesn’t stop until he’s nestled safely in Juyeon’s arms. 

“Eric, come here.” Juyeon says, putting Sunwoo down and huddling both boys into his embrace. “We’re going to trick or treat on this street again, okay? And if you do a good job,” _Meaning you don’t embarrass me_. “I’ll buy you pizza tomorrow.” 

The overly excited smiles that erupt on Eric and Sunwoo’s faces followed by eager nods gives Juyeon false hope. One simply does not trust two rowdy six year old boys to keep their mouths shut. After running past the inflatable, to which Juyeon doesn’t miss his chance at jump scaring Sunwoo, Juyeon himself rings the doorbell. He stands with a hand on each of the boys’ shoulders like a proud father. 

“Trick or treat!” 

A look of recognition settles on the cute neighbor’s face as he opens the door and reaches for the candy basket. 

“You guys look awfully familiar.” He says playfully suspicious, directing his slanted gaze at Juyeon. “Unless there’s another magician, acorn, and Ariana Grande impersonator walking the streets.” 

Juyeon snorts, subconsciously touching his mask and opens his mouth to correct him but Sunwoo the talking acorn beats him to it. 

“I think Juyeon hyung wanted to see you agai- _mmph_.”

Juyeon only means to press his hand over Sunwoo’s mouth but the six year old’s face is so tiny compared to Juyeon’s massive hand that his whole face gets swallowed up. Eric bursts out in sharp _ha-has_ and makes a helpful statement of his own. 

“Juyeon hyung let us go around the neighborhood again! But he wanted to start at _your_ house first!” 

_Looks like we’re not getting pizza tomorrow,_ Juyeon mentally confirms, pulling himself from under the bus he was thrown under. He pinches Eric’s side and gives Chanel boy a friendly megawatt smile, willing him to disregard everything he just heard. “Hi, I’m Juyeon.” 

Fortunately for Juyeon, he receives a small understanding smile in return. “Chanhee.” He states, mirth swimming in his eyes. 

Happy to finally put a name to a face, Juyeon sighs. “Nice to mee-”

“Can we have more candy please, Chanhee hyung?” Eric interrupts, holding out his pumpkin basket and peering up at Chanhee with big hopeful eyes. 

Sunwoo mumbles something along the lines of _pleaseeee_ from behind Juyeon’s hand and Chanhee pretends to think about it for a second, tapping a finger against his lips. 

“Well, okay but keep this a secret between us, alright? The other kids can’t know.” Chanhee mock whispers. He bends down to the boys’ height and lets them pick their own candy. 

Sunwoo mimes zipping his lips while Eric, at the top of his lungs, says, “We won’t tell anyone!” 

Chanhee graciously nods and leans in a little closer as if sharing a secret with just Eric and Sunwoo. “And tell your Juyeon hyung that if he comes a third time he needs to bring me candy instead.”

The way Chanhee teasingly wrinkles his nose up at Juyeon makes the entire night worth it. 

  
**\---**   
  


At 7:07PM when Eric and Sunwoo have dumped their pumpkin baskets all over the living room floor, Juyeon rechecks his hair in the hallway mirror. Gone is the bunny mask that concealed his face and flattened his hair. In its place is a strategically gelled hairstyle that accentuates his undercut. 

He fingers the lone comma strand that sits on his forehead and then gives himself congratulatory finger guns because he’s content with his appearance. 

Knowing that their parents are just in the other room, Juyeon strides to the front door tossing a farewell greeting over his shoulder. The pitter-pattering of small feet quickly chase after him and catch him before he leaves. 

“Hyung! Are you going to see Chanhee hyung?” Eric wonders. His magician’s cape has been abandoned in favor of his Batman pajamas.

Juyeon starts. “Was I that obvious?” He chuckles lightly. 

“Chanhee hyung said you have to bring him candy if you visit him again so here.” Eric brandishes his pumpkin basket filled with a few bite sized candies he must have sacrificed from his bunch. “Don't worry,” he says as if he read Juyeon’s mind. “I stole some from Sunwoo. My magic pencil is in there too if you wanna show Chanhee hyung my trick again!”

“Eric!” Juyeon scolds because stealing is bad (the irony), but then he drops down to one knee to ruffle the thoughtful six year old’s hair. “Thanks.” 

Eric’s smile is as bright as the night time moon as he waves Juyeon goodbye. 

**\---**   
  
  


There’s a hazy fog that’s descended upon the neighborhood spooky enough to fit the Halloween vibe. Only teenagers are out trick or treating at this time. Juyeon even spots a house being teepeed like in the movies. Having paraded around the streets for the last two hours or so has helped Juyeon map out the houses. In a short ten minutes he’s in front of Chanhee’s house, heart set on asking him on a date because he’s an impatient man who’s waited all his life for a beauty like Chanhee. 

Going up the front steps is more exhilarating this time around. Juyeon almost misses his miniature sidekicks despite their lack of subtlety. He inspects his reflection in the glass panels of the front door, inhales shallowly and rings the doorbell. 

The door opens up for the third time that night, Chanhee and his cat ears at the ready with his basket of candy in hand, only this time it’s different. The look on Chanhee’s face reads as if he’s seeing Juyeon for the first time, which he kind of is, and likes what he sees. (Juyeon is so glad he ditched the mask.) 

“Trick or treat.” Juyeon grins, heart on his sleeve because he knows that the beautiful boy before him is equally as happy to see him. He holds up Eric’s pumpkin basket. “I don’t come empty handed. As you requested.”

Chanhee seems to come to, blinking himself out of his daze and smiling shyly, and Juyeon finds he’s utterly smitten with this boy he just met who has a cute button nose, flashy designer clothes and a smile so intriguing it makes Juyeon want to know more. 

“Sorry, uh. You look different without your mask on.” Chanhee confesses. 

“Good different?” Juyeon hopes.

“Definitely.”

Juyeon bites the inside of his cheek in victory. “Good.” He grins and suddenly there’s a nervous energy between them and Juyeon feels something shifting like he’s making a major life decision just by asking this cute LA boy out. “So, I was wondering, uh, are you perhaps free… right now?”

A group of teenagers run past the house and Chanhee’s eyes follow them until they disappear. “Besides doorbell duty, yes.”

“Oh,” Juyeon deflates a little, forgetting that he has been doing that all night.

“I can’t really go out,” Chanhee says apologetically. “But I am watching movies. Would you want to join me?”

Just like that, Juyeon’s love barometer is skyrocketing again. 

“Y-yes. Absolutely.” He spits out, then more hesitantly, “Are you watching by yourself or…?”

Chanhee steps back, placing the candy basket back on a side table and grips the door frame. “No, with my boyfriend.”

Juyeon’s face immediately falls, not able to hide his disappointment in the least but then Chanhee is giggling behind his heavily ringed hand and opening the door wider for Juyeon to enter, reassuring him with a _just kidding_.

Juyeon releases a shaky breath that turns into a low laugh as he follows Chanhee inside. “Oh, you’re evil.” He huffs, dropping himself onto the living room couch. The flat screen is paused on the intro to _The Nightmare Before Christmas._

Chanhee settles in next to him and it brings Juyeon a strange comfort he didn’t know he was missing. Chanhee hits play on the remote and turns to Juyeon with a cheeky grin.

“You should get used to it.”

And yes, Juyeon thinks, he certainly will. 

**\---**   
  


“You never told me what you’re dressed as.” 

Juyeon lowers his hand of popcorn and juts his chin at Chanhee in question. “Well, what are you?”

Following a semi heated conversation regarding whether _A Nightmare Before Christmas_ belongs in the Halloween category versus the Christmas catalog and after Chanhee loses at rock, paper, scissors and promises to be Juyeon’s English tutor, the atmosphere surrounding the two warms up extensively.

Chanhee crosses his arms and points a rigid, ring clad finger at the top of his head. “I’m a cat, duh.”

Juyeon bares his teeth in amusement. “It suits you.” He compliments as Chanhee’s slim hand reaches up to hide his flattered smile. 

“So what are you?”

“I feel like I need to clear up an earlier misconception. I’m not an Ariana Grande impersonator.” Chanhee chokes on a laugh. “I let my little brother choose my costume and he said I was going to be a stealer. His exact words, not mine.”

“A stealer, huh?” Chanhee inquires, tossing a Snickers wrapper onto the coffee table. “What do you steal? Souls? Candy?”

Juyeon sinks further into the couch cushions and props his head against his arm that’s rested on the back of the couch. “Is it too early to say I stole your heart tonight?”

Although Chanhee guffaws in disbelief at his cringeworthy and straightforward remark, the blush that spreads prettily across the apples of his cheeks tells Juyeon otherwise, and for that, he is a winner.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! ☻


End file.
